the People
by theDeadPossumSpy
Summary: The People are many. They represent the myth that may or may not be vampires. Review it, tag it, flame it, do your thing, but do not insult me or the form of my characters. I created them, I will continue to sculpt and do my art. Please don't annoy me.
1. Rome

Author's Note: This is the remake of Breaking the Habit, still about the Italian, whose name I changed. There are four races in this story I figure readers should be aware of. They are: Vampyres, like Hao and Luchist, Fell, like Claire, Hunters, like Dietrich, and Sharks, like a certain follower of Yoh's. Ryuu.

I will describe these races later and their origins. Let's just say they involve Brazil, India, and Kings.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: OBVIOUSLY I DON'T OWN SHAMAN KING

OR ANY OF THE REAL CHARACTERS.

HOWEVER, I DO OWN CLAIRE AND DIETRICH AND

A FEW OTHERS WHO'LL CROP UP AS WE GO ON.

* * *

Rome. A blanket of stars under the night sky and a city of towers and spires. A place where sinners ruled and saints prayed.

Men and women piled out of their houses and entered taxis or their little European cars. Others straggled into their holes and closed their eyes to the night beyond the door. Pedestrians and vehicles competed for space on the street and even the walkways and prostitutes sold themselves for a couple euros and a bed.

The city was filthy, as well. Pigeons found their homes here and people tossed their garbage aside without one thought for the dying planet.

Claire di Vita was disgusted.

She was perched on a pillar for a large church looking out over Rome in silence, searching for something in the too-big city.

A breeze brushed her spiky copper hair aside and she closed her eyes as a wave of scents washed over her.

Car exhaust was the most prominent, blood, sweat, adrenaline and feces were mixed in. The most important scent, the one Claire sought, was fire. It flared in her nose, burning, and angered Claire. It was so close, the one bearing this scent, and a snarl tore out of her throat, too low for a human but loud enough for a person like Claire.

She turned, her eyes glowing olive in the faint moonlight, and saw the host of the offending scent. He was above her, astride a gargoyle, and his dark eyes were on the people below, the prey he thirsted for.

Not the one Claire searched for, but this one was still trouble. He could sense Claire's aura and looked at her. His eyes were framed by dark brown hair and set in a clearly Japanese face. He was beautiful, too, in a feminine way. He had the beauty only the prettiest of human females could possess. It was inhuman.

"Good evening." He said to Claire silkily. "Am I bothering you, dear Italian?"

His voice sounded strange speaking the language of the country. Claire narrowed her eyes and pulled back her lips in a quiet snarl.

"I guess I have disturbed your hunt." The young male said. He sounded scornful and he scoffed at Claire, despite the fact that he knew who she was. "Too bad, di Vita. I am hunting as well, and I will fight you gladly for this territory."

"Too bad I seek one of your kind tonight, Vampyre." Claire said in a lilting soprano voice that sounded beautiful with his tenor voice. "A Vampyre from Sicily who killed many of the diCrescenzo. He broke the treaty."

"I know of that Vampyre. A priest, right? Luchist Lasso?" The male laughed coolly. Claire did not shiver though she flinched. She would have loved to kill him but he was protected by another treaty. The male's eyes grew very dark suddenly and a strange light entered them. "He is of my coven now, Claire. His soul will belong in my treaty, as mine does."

"I can not allow that to happen, Hao Asakura. I am to kill this Vampyre and no treaty may protect him now. Just as your treaty will one day fail you."

Claire's words made Hao bristle with annoyance.

"How about we make a deal then, Claire." He snapped. "We will make a life trade. Luchist Lasso becomes mine in exchange for the soul of a Vampyre in the neutral zone who has committed far more serious crimes."

"What crimes would those be if Deitrich hasn't learned of them?" Claire asked with forced calm. "What crimes can a neutral Vampyre commit without the leaders of the country knowing?"

"They can bring back the dead, like the Tao girl does in Hong Kong." Hao said silkily. "Pure necromancy, against all the laws your kind agreed on with the leaders of Germany."

Claire wanted to laugh. Necromancers were extremely rare and more likely to die because they failed their first spell than actually reanimate someone.

"Don't laugh." Hao sighed. "I really hate it when people laugh at me, Claire."

"So you are telling the truth then, Hao?" Kira hissed in incredulous shock. "I will agree to the trade then, but I will not stop others from hunting the priest."

Hao grinned, showing his gleaming teeth.

"I wouldn't expect any less of the Fell." He said.

* * *

Author's Foot Note: Yes, I called it a foot note. STFO.

Anyway this is in an alternate universe where spirits, like Amidamaru, do not exist. Vampyres, against the norm, are not allergic to sunlight. The Fell and Hunters are. I made the two main races, Fell and Vampyres, to represent different parts of the vampire myth. At least MY vampires don't glow like diamonds, though.


	2. Germany

Don't mind this. I have to keep track of the timezones... Japan is 8 hours ahead of Rome. And Frankfurt is the same time as Rome...

* * *

Authors Note: People are showing an interest in "the People". I am happy. C: I now have a duty: I must describe one of the races.

So then I shall describe the Fell briefly.

The Fell are able to use any of the five points of the Unity Star, excluding Fire. They were meant to be the only of the four races to wield magic, but a few Vampyres broke the rules and developed any one of the points, though they are unable to develop Metal without suffering excrutiating pain. Necromancy is a forbidden magic that only Tao Jun and Johann Faust developed. It is the most potent magic against the Fell and those who wield it are punished. Fell beings cannot enter sunlight, for it is the raw form of Fire, and they can die within moments of contact. They can temporarily block the sunlight, however, but only so long as stronger magic is not used to decompose the spell. Fell spells also have a specific form that can be seen in another world, referred to as the Mirrorworld. In the Mirrorworld everything in the Mortalworld is seen the same, but is warped by Sanskrit runes. Sanskrit, by the way, is the language the Fell wield spells in. A spell has a diamond-like form in this world, with it's facets being the inhibitors and the inside being filled with magic. Sanskrit can only be defeated by Death, Fire, and Kings.

* * *

Johann Faust knelt before the casket his dead wife, Eliza, had been lain to rest in. His blue eyes were on the men breaking the casket to pieces and creating weapons out of it.

"The Taos have a way with magic, to be sure." One man said. He had triangular teeth that glinted silver. His eyes were dark and brooding. "They are a brilliant group."

"They are merely lucky," Faust said coldly. "Lucky that the Italians are too busy to go after them. Lucky that Claire hunts closer to home."

"But to be able to use Necromancy…" The man whispered, quieter in his fear of Faust. "Fell fear the dead. I thought that was why the Italians avoided Hong Kong…"

"No, it is not." Faust replied. He got to his feet. "The di Vita fear nothing of the sort, least of all Claire. It is a game to her. She will let the Taos build power and then knock them backwards in one blow. Can't you Sharks feel the Sanskrit? It's everywhere these days, even here where the dead are so rampant."

He nodded to the bones of the fallen humans in the caskets around them.

"But the Fell and Hunters they send are not so brave." He added. "Eliza, come with me."

A pale woman with long blonde hair turned to follow Faust. Her blue eyes were blank and dead even though her slight body was in movement. When they had gone the Sharks sighed with relief though they didn't stop their work.

"If the Italians do send people they will learn to fear us…" One Shark grunted.

"No, they won't." The first Shark whispered. Silence fell as he spoke. "Claire di Vita will lower upon us a wrath as great as the fiery wrath of our Gods. We will be exterminated, but so will she."

The satisfaction in his voice renewed the vigour of his companions and they worked all the harder, preparing for the arrival of the Fell.

* * *

Deitrich di Vita stood proud and tall as he watched his thin, emaciated cousin scry through the Mirrorworld. He felt worry for her, she seemed so close to Death already, and he felt the rampant emotions in her that would consume her if her hate grew too great for her to hold in.

'The mask is not needed here, my cousin.' Claire whispered through the air, though her lips hadn't moved. Deitrich felt her in the Mirrorworld. He felt her extremely close. 'The emotions you feel will not sheild you from harm...'

Deitrich remained impassive. The gleaming platinum mask on his face hid any expression he may have had. His black hair concealed any stiffening of his neck or arms. Claire would be able to read his mind and emotions in the Mirrorworld, but she would never be able to understand them. Especially not if she was meant to die.

When Claire opened her olive eyes they glowed as though lit by the wretched fire that had once destroyed the older members of the di Vita coven. Something dark always stirred in Claire's eyes, some great Vampyre evil no being could understand. Cruel intelligence, bitter hatred, and the ever-present Fire.

"What Hao said was indeed true, Deitrich." Claire said. "A Necromancer inhabits the nuetral territory. Your choice is of who to send."

"I will send Jane and Valkyrie." Deitrich said. "As well as whoever includes themselves within their covens. If that is agreeable to you."

Claire rested her head in her hands and sighed. Silence reigned as she thought over Deitrich's choice. Candles flickered in the gloomy room, the only fire allowed to burn within the walls of the villa the di Vita coven possessed. Minutes passed in the room without any change in either Deitrich or Claire, only the steadily growing clump of wax gave any sign that time did indeed flow.

"Claire?" Deitrich asked. Worry coloured his deep voice.

Claire started upon hearing her name. Her green eyes rose up to his and she smiled slightly.

"Sorry, Deitrich." She said loftily. "I was thinking that you should send along some of the Hunters. Something is bound to go wrong and a few Hunters would give us the advantage we need."

"So I'll send along some of the Serpiente and I'll have Heilen meet them in Frankfurt." Deitrich said. He bowed his head and helped Claire get to her feet. Her skin felt powdery soft against his own. She had a fever, he realised as they walked out of the dark chamber. "You need a nurse, Claire."

"I need a nap." Claire snapped, anger rising within her suddenly. Her eyes flashed as she pulled her arm from Deitrich. She stalked off down the hall. Deitrich watched her go in silence, his dark eyes glowing in the soft light chandelier.

* * *

Author's Footnote: Thank you. I hope to develop Claire's personality indeed. She is one of my favorite characters (of my own creation), but I haven't worked with her that much. I visualised her to be somewhat more kind and happy, but I like it when she get's gloomy. Look forward to some Anna action.


	3. China

Don't mind this. I have to keep track of the time zones... Japan is 8 hours ahead of Rome. And Frankfurt is the same time as Rome...

* * *

_Authors Note: CHAPTER THREE!!! My next description shall be of the Hunters and Sharks. They are tied together, so I am doing them together._

_First of all they are neither Fell nor Vampyre. Hunters are bound to serve the Fell for the simple reason that the Fell created them by forsaking their own magic for the form of an animal. They have no birthright to any of the disputed lands and they make excellent foot soldiers. The only Hunter allowed to rule a coven of Fell is Dietrich, and that is because his cousin is too ill to do so herself. Sharks are humans once bitten by Vampyres that were left within the Neverworld to fester their immortality. They also have no birthright but they are very adept at claiming lands for a greater clan of Vampyres. Japan is dominated by a pack of Sharks and six clans of Vampyres, for instance, and the Shark pack names are not on any document recording the rule of the country (__Japan__ is referred to as Asakura territory, as __Italy__ is referred to as di Vita territory). Hunters, unlike Fell, can survive in sunlight. They will loose their human-like forms if the sunlight burns it away and they will forever be trapped as beasts with human-like voices. Sharks can be destroyed simply by drowning them in water, as they fear it like a vampire in myth. AND, as comes the matter of transferring the state of either Hunter or Shark... THEY CANNOT INFECT HUMANS! Shark bites will not create other Sharks and the Shark status cannot change to Vampyre. Sharks can breed with other Sharks, and pretty much anything out there with humanoid forms, but Hunters cannot. A Hunter cannot become Fell again because to regain magic you must hold magic. They can breed only with Hunters who bear similar animal forms, and they can breed with Fell of any kind._

_PS. I hope you notice that I am naming chapters after countries. The chapters may have nothing to do with the countries, like when I will do __Siam__, but who cares? Some might even be named after cities, like __Kyoto__._

* * *

The little blonde boy tiptoed through the large house slowly, trying desperately to not be heard by 'the Dragon'. His foot caught on the afghan rug and he face planted on the floor with a thump. His breath caught in his throat as he realized how much noise his fall had made.

"SHORTY!" Came the enraged scream of a young female. A sliding partition a little down the hall from the boy slammed open. "I told you to stay away from my room!"

The boy yelped and jumped to his feet as a slender Japanese girl with blonde hair and hawk-like gold eyes stormed out of her room. She had classical beauty and the unmistakable aura of strength and aggressiveness. The boy was afraid.

"I'm sorry Anna san!" He cried. His little knees shook and he bolted, fear driving Oyamada Manta away from Kyoyama Anna.

Anna sighed quietly as Manta disappeared, her sharp hearing letting her know when he tripped again on the poorly taken care of rug. She slipped back into her room, sliding the partition closed softly.

"Stupid boys..." she muttered.

* * *

Asakura Yoh was meditating, his dark eyes closed tightly as he concentrated on attaining _Zen. _He forced his breathing to slow, calming himself, and reached for the faint light he had nurtured that would bring him peace from his troubled existence.

He didn't let himself think about the assassin that had been caught within the manor. The tiny little Fell boy with innocent blue eyes and shocking white hair. The boy whose weapon was a metal knife of hard silver carved with the intricate runes of the Fell. Skylar Moore, his name had been. Mikihisa had told Yoh that after he and Yohmei had finished with the boy and burned his body. He had been sent by Kai Mao of Beijing to destroy the only heir of the Asakura territory still alive. If Oyamada Manta hadn't seen him he might have succeeded.

Yoh sighed, realizing he was unable to relax properly, and moved as though to get up. It was then that a dark light found him and latched on to him, hooking his mind and tugging it with it to a place he'd never been before. A place warped by the runes he had been raised to fear, a place where reality could be defined only by living many lives, reincarnating after every death into a stronger form. He was in the Mirrorworld and he was afraid.

**What is this magic?** Yoh's thought was loud as though he spoke. Sanskrit swirled around him endlessly, dizzying him. **How am I here? Why?**

Suddenly everything shifted and Yoh was over Rome, watching as the symbols around him defined the souls below. He understood nothing of the message they tried to give him. It was then that he saw _her_, that pitiful Italian girl who'd ruled Italy silently since her own parents had died. She ruled this place; he could see it by the Sanskrit that flowed out of her. She alone seemed to define the Mirrorworld. She defined Death as well. He could see the paleness of her soul, the poison that flooded her body and made it useless.

**Claire di Vita...** he thought. He saw a scar gleaming on the white skin of her shoulder, the crescent scar of a Vampyre's teeth. That was the cause of her weakness, the cause of her frailty and power. Vampyre venom killing her slowly, not enough to have done the job when she had been bitten, but certainly enough to make her life a living Hell.

Claire seemed to sense him watching her and she stiffened, baring her shining teeth as she Sidled into the Mirrorworld and faced Yoh, green eyes to dark brown. As soon as she looked at Yoh the Sanskrit around him tightened painfully and encased him in shimmering magic. He yelped in pain.

**Die Vampyre. **Claire's thought was knife-like, slicing through Yoh's mind and leaving him in excruciating misery. The spell she had launched rushed at him, and he could see the diamond behind it.

But then Yoh was out, back in Japan. He had fallen off the well he was meditating on, right in front of Manta. The pain of Claire's thoughts still besieged him and caused a ravenous headache that only intensified when he got to his feet.

"Are you okay, Yoh-san?" Manta asked softly.

"I meditated too hard and fell off the well." Yoh said shortly to his little friend. Manta looked wide eyes and innocent and Yoh was sure he had seen the same thing he had. He believed Mikihisa then, for Mikihisa had often said that Manta had descended through the same Fell coven that Anna's mother did.

"Anna san got mad at me." Manta said quietly. I was going to the kitchens and I went by her room because it's faster… but I tripped again."

Yoh began to walk off, sore and upset. He didn't hear Manta's quiet confession and he didn't ask Manta to repeat it.

* * *

Anna had no idea how she came to be in the Mirrorworld. She had been asleep, taking a nap, when she was suddenly hooked by a dark light that took her to an in between place that looked like nothing she had ever seen. It was a scary place.

**Who are you? **She demanded into the darkness around her. **What is the meaning of this?**

**You are not the one I seek it seems…** Came a cold, soft reply. It was faint and it sounded distinctly upset that it had hooked the wrong person. The thought was female and it was filled with cruel intent. **But, even so, you are a fantastic little specimen. A Fell Pureblood living in ****Japan****… Which coven do you descend from, regazza?**

Anna didn't like the sound of the woman behind that cold intelligence. She couldn't resist the demand though. The woman was greatly influential.

**I am Kyoyama Anna. Mikihisa san and Yohmei sempai will not like you hurting me! **She cried. **Who the Hell are you?**

**Hell is a strong curse, regazza. You are very insolent, but being raised by Vampyres in… Izumo… must have caused a defection in your brain. How sad that I must send someone to deal with the clan who kept you from us. **The response was so bitter that the Sanskrit all around Anna flashed. **I am Claire di Vita and I will not forget your name Kyoyama Anna.**

Anna didn't appreciate the threat. Anger flared within and something in her soul opened to allow Sanskrit in and out. Once inside it told her how to direct a spell, giving her the power to do so. The spell flashed out of her and struck toward the figure behind the darkness.

Claire flicked her wrist dismissively at the spell. Anna saw a flash of violet light before the spell was gone. Somewhere in Tokyo several cars and a bus blew up. Anna was surprised to be able to sense that spell had annihilated the vehicles.

**Mmm… One of us in ****Japan**** who is relatively strong… we must retrieve you, regazza**_…_ Claire sounded vaguely mystified. Her eyes flashed in the darkness. Anna still couldn't see how she looked but she began to feel intimidated.

**Let me go. **She demanded.

**I don't think I want to. **Claire replied. Humor and cruelty flashed around Anna. **You attacked me. That is the greatest offence any one can commit against my family.**

Something burned Anna then and she opened her eyes wide to see Mikihisa standing over her, holding a lighter in his hand. She was comforted by the familiar sight of his bronze mask, even though he seemed to have used the lighter on her.

"Yoh said that Lady di Vita was looking at Japan today." He said softly. "What's the verdict?"

"She is going to send people to retrieve me." Anna said slowly as she drifted to sleep. She felt weak from casting the spell. "She is unpleasant, isn't she?"

Mikihisa would have replied but she was asleep.

* * *

_FN: Yeah, yeah, yeah… Anna was just PWND by Claire. Don't be alarmed, though. She will have another opportunity to prove her tuffness._


End file.
